Last week I have a plate of peanuts, this Monday is my cube keychain. This was straight jpg out of camera. This is the black and white Art effect from my OM-D E-M5, I really like it when I saw it on the monitor, the black and white effect was perfect for the cube specially the grain.

Matdongsan, these are popular Korean crackers made from peanuts and sunflower oil. They taste so good, you can’t stop crunching once you open the bag. You can probably find it at your local Asian Oriental Store, if not they’re available on Amazon.(Haitai Matdongsan Snack – 325g)

Shikhye is a traditional sweet Korean rice beverage, usually served as a chilled dessert. It is made by pouring malt water onto cooked rice. The liquid is then carefully poured out, leaving the rougher parts, and boiled until it gets sweet enough.

Chinese Bamboo tree or the Lucky Bamboo is one of my favorite plant because it is so easy to care for and according to Asian beliefs especially Chinese, it can bring good luck especially if it was given to you as a gift.

I know, it should be Macro Monday and not Close-up Monday. The reason being is, the photos I create depends on the lens I use for the week and are more of a close-up and not a 1:1 macro also the Zuiko 45mm F/1.8 does not focus as close as a macro lens. The Olympus 45mm f1.8’s closest focusing distance is a modest 0.5m( 50cm or 19.685 inches), allowing just 0.11x magnification, or a reproduction that’s almost ten times smaller.

Going back to the peanut photo, why peanuts, why not something else for this days subject? Simply because I love peanuts, it’s my favorite snack and I’m having some right now.

Did you know that peanuts rivals fruit as a source of Antioxidants and best of all the’re good for the heart.

Not only do peanuts contain oleic acid, the healthful fat found in olive oil, but new research shows these tasty legumes are also as rich in antioxidants as many fruits. While unable to boast an antioxidant content that can compare with the fruits highest in antioxidants, such as pomegranate, roasted peanuts do rival the antioxidant content of blackberries and strawberries, and are far richer in antioxidants than apples, carrots or beets. Research conducted by a team of University of Florida scientists, published in the journal Food Chemistry, shows that peanuts contain high concentrations of antioxidant polyphenols, primarily a compound called p-coumaric acid, and that roasting can increase peanuts’ p-coumaric acid levels, boosting their overall antioxidant content by as much as 22%. From The Worlds Healthiest Foods…

Last week I used my Panasonic Lumix 30mm F/2.8 macro, this week I used the the Panasonic Lumix 14mm F/2.5 Ver 1 This lens the oldest lens in my micro four thirds system.

Panasonic Lumix 14mm F/2.5 ASPH on a OM-D E-M5

Before getting this, I was uing FD lenses, which was ok and fun to shoot, but after seeing the capabilities of the Micro Four Thirds, I decided to get native lenses and this is the first one I bought. Why, because it’s cheap, and after reading some positive reviews, I went ahead and bought it.

I shot this near the window and use the ambient light coming in from the window. The BW effect is from the built-in Art effects of the OM- E-M5. I can edit the Raw file in post, but I really like how it came out straight from camera so I just added the watermark and use it.

It’s Wearable Wednesday once again. Last week I took a photo of the buttons on my button fly abercrombie pants. Today I feature my Worn out Tommy belt, can’t remember excatly when I bought this belt (maybe around 2003), it’s an excellent belt.

Created using the Original Olympus OM-D E-M5 with the Panasonic Lumix 14mm F/2.5. Shot in aperture priority, auto iso, F/2.5, 1/30, ISO 3200. Use the OM-D E-M5 Art Effects

Today’s Photography Theme is Tree Tuesday. Last week this was the photo of a tree that I shot on the way to work. This week I took a photo of this tree that is in front of our house. I wanted to concentrate on the tree itself so I shot it in close-up to minimize the distraction.

Created using the Original Olympus OM-D E-M5 with the Panasonic Lumix 14mm F/2.5. Shot in aperture priority F/3.5, 1/800, ISO 100. Edited in Lightroom.

Created using the Original Olympus OM-D E-M5 with the Panasonic Lumix 14mm F/2.5, with the Canon 430 EX II, bounce to ceiling. Manual exposure, F/2.5, 1/200, ISO 100

Washi is a kind of paper that originates in Japan, and Washi Eggs are egg shells covered with the paper.

This week, I’m using the Panasonic Lumix 14mm f/2.5 G, mine is the version 1. A wide angle lens isn’t always a good choice for shooting close-up or macro, but with thanks to it’s minimum focus distance of 18cm, it makes this lens suitable for wide angle close-ups and for shooting in tight space.

Seaweed Snack. I’m hooked with these snacks, totally addicting. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but once I start eating them, I can’t stop. I buy packs and packs of them, and I can totally finish a pack in a day. Some say it’s salty but I like salty food, and If I eat it with rice, it kinda balance everything.

This weeks feature gear is my Olympus PEN E-PL7 and the Panasonic Lumix 30mm F/2.8 Macro lens. As I’ve mentioned from the start of my 2017 Daily Photo, every Friday, I will feature the gear that I used for the week.

Here it is the Olympus E-PL7 and the Lumix 30mm F/2.8 macro lens with OIS.

The E-PL7 is my backup micro four thirds camera. It’s smaller than my E-M5 making it a little lighter and easier to carry around, it’s so small, other people around me doesn’t notice me at all especially when paired with the Lumix 20mm F/1.7 Pancake or the Lumix 14mm F/2.5 Wide Pancake Lens.

Pros:

Small form factor, easy to carry around.

Great image quality provided you get the right lens.

Because it’s newer than the E-M5 it has better low light, high ISO performance compare to my E-M5

Slight better Image quality than the E-M5.

Slogjt better AF performance than the E-M5

Cons:

Buttons are too cramped

Maybe a little heavier for it’s size, bit that can also mean it’s well made which is a good thing.

I love my E-M5 Classic and my E-PL7, for what I do and use it for, they are more than enough. Like what I have mention in my E-M5 post, provided you have the right Micro Four Thirds lens, you can produce amazing images with them.

Before getting this macro lens for my mft, I was using the Canon FD 50mm F/3.5 manual lens, (a great lens by the way) with a FD to mft adapterI didn’t want to buy another macro lens, because I always ended up selling them eventually. But I found mine for a bargain price on Ebay, it’s refurbished by Panasonic so I said why not try it. For $169 it’s a lot of lens. I really like it, it’s a solid lens, although no weather sealing whatsoever, it’s made of metal and hard plastic, it has a metal mount and feels great, it’s also a bit heavy. Excellent build quality.

Performance:

AF performance is just right, it’s fast, especially when compared to other macro lenses that I have use for my Canon system in the past like the Tokina 100mm macro, Canon EF 100mm macro classic. It’s almost as fast as the Zuiko 45mm F/1.8. Sometimes, AF becomes a challenge in low light where I encounter occasional hunting. But overall, I can say that AF is fast enough and you won’t be disappointed. With regards to the built-in IS (image stabilization ) I have not tested it because both my Olympus bodies have built in stabization. The E-M5 has the unmatched 5-axis Image Stabilization and the E-PL7 has the 3-axis IS. Also there is no switch on the lens to turn off the built-in OIS .

How about image quality? I use the lens with both my E-M5 and E-PL7, mostly with the E-PL7, based on my experience and in the images I’ve taken, they are sharp on both the center and the edges even wide open at F/2.8 up to F/5.6. Beyond that, I can’t say for sure but I would assumed that it is still sharp up to F/8 as with most m43 lenses due to defraction. I mostly shoot wide open when using my micro four thirds.

Conclusion:

The PANASONIC LUMIX G Macro Lens, 30mm, F2.8 ASPH Mega OIS is an excellent lens. With a 60mm equivalent full frame field of view, it will give you excellent 1:1 result. You wont have a problem shooting it wide open. With regards to build quality, the almost all metal construction gives you the assurance that this lens is well built. Overall, this is a great lens for any micro four thirds system. You won’t be disappointed.
Gear:

For me, this is like the best soda. It taste great and it’s just fun to drink, from the moment you pop it open it’s like there’s excitement all over it. I was going to have this yesterday, but I remember it’s Thursday and I can use for my Thirsty Thursday theme. Well it’s worth the wait.